We must continue to include dynamic PM approaches on our tool belt (Spiral vs Waterfall).

Many organizations (directed right from the top) still follow a strict waterfall approach. This approach is easier to budget, schedule and assign ownership/accountability, however, it is not easier to provide a solution that the customer is happy with.

We live in a world where the customer/end-user changes their mind throughout the project and new findings, influencers, technologies and products become available monthly.

Some world leaders are not following the old way and are pushing for more innovation and "Smart Projects" that will not have a clear solution. So our approach must include a "Smart" mentality that is more fluid and open to change and adaptability (more like a Modular or Agile approach). The optimum way to think is in a Modular approach, which is adaptable for your type of project but the concept is very well explained in this link..... Modularity

I highly recommend you include the links above on your tool belt, PMI has a great method (the PMBOK) however it is not the only one. Great Project Managers have a plethora of methods on their tool belt that they draw from and can adapt to based on the end Customer Solution. I also am very strong on Subsidiary Project Plans (Formal Subset Plan of the overall Project Plan) which include at a minimum:

Education of Stakeholders

Transparency

Communication

Risk

Organizational Structure and Design

The Prime Minister of India is quite an interesting person. He now is leading an economy that some say will dominate and become THE world leader. There is a great story of what he is passionate about. A few quotes I liked and my comments are below...

"In an ambitious plan to upgrade urban India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he will build 100 "smart cities"Jason comment - WOW, think of the scale of this, Canada needs to respect the impact this has on the world, for Canada to build 100 new cities like this is not even imaginable"Cities in the past were built on riverbanks," "They are now built along highways. But in the future, they will be built based on availability of optical fiber networks and next-generation infrastructure.Jason comment - we need to be dynamic and adaptable with our project management approach, we need to focus more on our PM Culture, not our PM Tool set, since the Tool set will always be changing. We are managing for solutions that we dont even know for sure how they will be fully maximized. Be open to innovation and change within your approach. Take a smaller, more modular approach (If you have a huge project over a year long, then break it down, create programs of multiple projects, and have a formalized position called "Program Manager" (very different role then Project Manager).

"New cities are popping up in countries like South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and China, which announced an $8 billion investment fund in smart city technology this year."Jason comment - the train has left the station, to be competitive we need to be ready and the advantages our businesses have is our ability to have innovative Project Managers, we can manage the plans, problem solve, create and deliver the solutionsFor the full story, see link:http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/18/world/asia/india-modi-smart-cities/

This entry was posted on October 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm, and is filed under
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